Chapters (109)
- Part One
- ONE
- One day earlier
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- PART TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- SEVENTY-FOUR
- SEVENTY-FIVE
- SEVENTY-SIX
- SEVENTY-SEVEN
- SEVENTY-EIGHT
- SEVENTY-NINE
- EIGHTY
- EIGHTY-ONE
- EIGHTY-TWO
- EIGHTY-THREE
- EIGHTY-FOUR
- EIGHTY-FIVE
- EIGHTY-SIX
- EIGHTY-SEVEN
- EIGHTY-EIGHT
- EIGHTY-NINE
- NINETY
- NINETY-ONE
- NINETY-TWO
- NINETY-THREE
- NINETY-FOUR
- NINETY-FIVE
- NINETY-SIX
- NINETY-SEVEN
- NINETY-EIGHT
- NINETY-NINE
- GLOSSARY
- Acknowledgments
- Continue reading
- Part One
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
She spooned up a mouthful of vanilla ice cream. “That’s good.” She realized she wasn’t giving him much conversation fodder.
“Let’s watch a movie tonight,” he suggested. “I have a fifty-two-inch TV at home.”
Fifty-two inch! “Are you rich or something?” she asked.
He smiled and shook his head. “I just know how to make use of my talents.”
“What does that mean?”
He continued the enigmatic smile. “I’ll tell you one day. Maybe. So, will you come to my place to watch a movie?”
Emma said, “No, thank you. I have church tomorrow—the early service.”
“Really.” He looked at her askance.
“You don’t have to believe me if you don’t want to,” she said, amused.
“Okay then. I believe you.”
Emma wanted to switch the general tenor of their exchange. “There’s something I’d like to ask you in turn.”
“Okay.”
“What do you know about DI Doris Damptey?”
Courage looked disappointed. “So, we have to talk about work?”
“Sorry. After this, I won’t talk about it again.”
“Damptey?” He chortled with disdain. “Every once in a while, that woman organizes raids on sakawa boys just to look good to Director-General Andoh. Apart from that, she is one of the laziest women I know.”
“How does she get away with it?”
“A lot of people get away with laziness at CID,” Courage said with a smirk. “In her case, she’s sleeping with her boss, DCS Quaino, so she can do almost whatever she likes. Or nothing at all.”
Emma’s spoon stopped halfway to her mouth. “Sleeping with her DCS? How do you know that?”
“Open secret,” he said. “Lots of people know, but no one says anything.”
“Does the director-general know, do you think?”
“He might,” Courage said, “but you know the highest-ranking officers prefer to stay out of the gutter with this kind of thing, or else they just look the other way.”
Emma shook her head and shuddered, which made Courage chuckle. “Why the shivers?”
“Your boss should never sleep with you. Ever. And I suppose DCS Quaino is married.”
“But of course! I’ve seen his wife at some of the events SWAT covers.”
“So, they’re committing adultery as well.”
“It happens all the time,” he said. “Maybe you’ve never been in that situation before, but believe me, when it comes around you may find yourself powerless.”
Emma immediately had a flashback to Director-General Andoh’s assault on her and she felt ill. Her appetite for ice cream vanished.
“What’s wrong?” Courage asked, noticing the change in her mood.
“Sorry,” Emma said despondently. “I don’t feel very well.”
Courage was concerned. “Is it what we ate at the club?”
Emma shook her head. “No, it’s not that. Would you mind if we leave now?”
“No, problem.” Courage leapt from his chair and extended his date a helping hand.
FIFTY-ONE
FIFTY-ONE